All shooters, whether they are police officers, soldiers, Olympic shooters, sportswomen and sportsmen, hunters, plinkers or weekend enthusiasts have one common goal: hitting their target accurately and consistently. Accuracy and consistency in shooting depend in part on the skill of the shooter and on the construction of the firearm and projectile. At long ranges, for example, in excess of 500 yards, the skill of the shooter and the consistency of the ammunition are often not enough to insure that the shooter will hit the target. As range increases, other factors can affect the flight of the bullet and the point of impact down range.
One of these factors is “bullet drop”. “Bullet drop” is caused by the influence of gravity on the moving bullet, and is characterized by a bullet path which curves toward earth over long ranges. Therefore to hit a target at long range, it is necessary to elevate the barrel of the weapon, and the aiming point, to adjust for bullet drop. Other factors, such as wind, Magnus effect (i.e., a lateral thrust exerted by wind on a rotating bullet whose axis is perpendicular to the wind direction), projectile design, projectile spin, Coriolis effect, and the idiosyncrasies of the weapon or projectile can change the projectile's path over long range. Such effects are generally referred to as “windage” effects. Therefore, for example, to hit a target at long range, it may be necessary to correct for windage by moving the barrel of the weapon slightly to the left or the right to compensate for windage effects. Thus, for example, in order to hit a target at long range, the shooter must see the target, accurately estimate the range to the target, estimate the effect of bullet drop and windage effects on the projectile, and use this information to properly position the barrel of the firearm prior to squeezing the trigger.
Conventional telescopic target acquisition devices are not generally useful at long ranges in excess of 400-800 yards. At close ranges less than 100 yards conventional target acquisition devices generally fall short when extreme accuracy is desired. Modifications to this basic system have not, thus far, enabled a skilled shooter firing at long ranges to acquire and hit a target quickly and reliably, regardless of the weapon used (assuming always that the firearm is capable of reaching a target at the desired long range). Accordingly, the need exists for a target acquisition device having a reticle which permits a skilled shooter to rapidly and accurately identify the range to any target of known or estimable size, no matter how large or small, and to make fast and accurate adjustment for projectile drop and windage.